English
afforcement
Afforcement comes from Latin exfortiāre ‘strain, exert’, from fortis ‘strong’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ‘to rise, high, hill’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-1‘to rise, high, hill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*forktis1‘strong, powerful’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEforctis1
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfortis2‘strong’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexfortiāre2‘strain, exert’
- Englishearliest quotation 1801afforcement2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin fortis
- 2 Wiktionary, English afforcement
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1801, Henry Hallam: ““It may be doubtful,” says Mr. Starkie, “whether the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-Wiktionary, Latin fortis‘to rise, high, hill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*forktisWiktionary, Latin fortis‘strong, powerful’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEforctisWiktionary, Latin fortis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfortisWiktionary, English afforcement‘strong’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexfortiāreWiktionary, English afforcement‘strain, exert’
- Englishearliest quotation 1801afforcementWiktionary, English afforcement. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1801, Henry Hallam: ““It may be doubtful,” says Mr. Starkie, “whether the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ‘to rise, high, hill’
berry, borough, burgess, bourgeois, barrow, burglar, brie, burgh, brahmin, burg, brahmana, bergh, bourguignon, broch, borgo, 12 more
through Proto-Italic *forktis ‘strong, powerful’
through Old Latin forctis
enforce, forte, fortitude, fortification, fortify, fortis, 6 more
through Latin fortis ‘strong’
Today it means
noun A reinforcement; a strengthening.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “afforcement”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fortis. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- / afforcement